Big South Announces Spring Sportsmanship Awards

Aug 16

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) - The Big South Conference's Team Sportsmanship Awards for its eight spring sports have been determined, and Liberty University was voted the winner in three sports. Campbell University, Charleston Southern University, Gardner-Webb University, Radford University and Presbyterian College each claimed one the five remaining awards. The honors are part of the Big South's Sportsmanship Awards program that began in 2005-06.

Liberty received the Big South's Team Sportsmanship Award in men's golf and men's and women's outdoor track & field. Gardner-Webb was honored in women's golf, while Radford was the winner in women's tennis. Presbyterian College won the men's tennis award, and Campbell was voted the softball winner. Charleston Southern claimed the Team Sportsmanship Award in baseball.

The team awards are voted on by Big South student-athletes and are awarded at the end of each competitive season. Teams cannot vote for themselves. Each institution ranks and votes for its top three. Teams receive three points for a first-place ranking, two points for a second-place ranking and one point for a third-place ranking.

Liberty's honors pushes its 2011-12 total to seven and 39 overall -- the most since the award's inception in 2005-06. The Flames repeated as the men's golf winners and won the track & field awards for the fourth time overall. Back-to-back winners also include Gardner-Webb (women's golf), Presbyterian (men's tennis) and Radford (women's tennis). Charleston Southern won its first Team Sportsmanship Award in baseball, while Campbell collected its third Team Sportsmanship Award in its first season back in the Big South.

With the 2011-12 season complete, the Big South Conference's Institutional Sportsmanship Award will be announced the week of August 20. An institution's sport winners count towards the Institution Sportsmanship Award and the winner is determined on a system recognizing the highest percentage of the maximum possible points each institution is capable of achieving in that year. The institution with the highest percentage will win the award. VMI has won the Big South's Institutional Sportsmanship Award all six years of the award's history.